Hermes Agent For Beginners 🧠 Run Your First Local AI Agent (Easily), by Wanderloots on YouTube. 20 min 17 s.
- Video length
- 20 min 17 s
- Time to do it
- 30 minutes
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Download Hermes Agent from the official Nous Research source and install it for your operating system. The new onboarding workflow guides you through the first setup.
Open the agent workspace after installation. This is where you chat with the agent, manage settings and see which model is loaded.
Let Hermes check your hardware. It reads your RAM and GPU and suggests a local model that will run well on your machine.
Choose the suggested model, or pick a smaller one if you want faster replies. Gemma and Qwen come in several sizes for different computers.
Confirm the built-in inference engine, llama-cpp, so the model runs inside Hermes without extra software.
Start the model and wait for the download and load to finish. The first run takes the longest because the model file must be fetched.
Test it with a simple question in the chat box. If replies come back, your local model is working and nothing leaves your computer.
Turn on memory so the agent learns from your conversations and keeps context between sessions.
Review the important settings, such as model choice and memory options, then save your setup.
Tips and common mistakes
Start with a smaller model if your computer has limited RAM, then move up once you know it runs smoothly.
Keep your notes and client files private by checking that the agent is set to the local model, not a cloud one.
The first model download is large, so use a stable connection and leave enough free disk space.
If replies are slow, close other heavy apps to free up memory for the model.
Questions
Do I need a powerful GPU?
Not always. Hermes checks your hardware and suggests a model that fits, and smaller models can run on CPU with enough RAM.
Is my data sent anywhere?
With a local model, your prompts and files stay on your computer. That is the main reason to run one for private notes or client work.
Can I use a different agent or model?
Yes. The same workflow works with other local platforms like LM Studio or llama-cpp, and other agents such as Claude Code or Cursor.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
